It fascinates me to watch the constant shifts in automotive tastes — what's hot, what's not — among car buyers. Station wagons (or estates, as our British brethren call them) don't seem to show up too high on the preference chart of many car enthusiasts, and yet they keep hanging on, and in fact seem to be enjoying a new popularity, at least in our part of the world.

My first desire for a station wagon was in the early 1950s when my folks took my brothers and me with them to go car shopping. We were living in Hawaii at the time, and my dad had decided the 1947 red Pontiac convertible had to go. At the car lot, I kept looking at a woodie wagon with three rows of seats, thinking this was the perfect family car to get me (the youngest of three boys) some space in the back. Unfortunately, my dad never cast a glance in its direction, having set his sights on a sedan instead.

Nowadays, wagons are part of my life, and over the winter holidays, I managed to drive two of the most delightful wagons ever built: the new Mercedes E500 4Matic and the Audi Allroad Quattro 4.2. Now, these are not inexpensive automobiles, with the Audi retailing in the mid-$50,000 area and the Mercedes in the mid-$60,000 range, but for useful transport and entertaining driving they are top-notch.

We enjoyed the Audi Allroad Quattro 4.2 here in California, using it for a long weekend trip up to Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains. Adding the 4.2-liter V-8 to the Allroad was a brilliant stroke, as my previous experiences left me wanting more power in this otherwise excellent wagon. We had used one in our winter trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan ("Four-Wheeling in the Land of Hiawatha," December 2002) and found it had excellent traction, good handling and comfortable accommodations — and when we got it stuck in the snow, the ability to press a button and increase the ride height saved us from some serious shoveling.

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But the V-8 with its 300 bhp hooking up through the 5-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic makes the Allroad an ideal mountain car. No grade too steep, no road too twisty for this , and the Cold Weather Package ($800) that provides heated front and rear seats, a ski sack and heated steering wheel is well worth the money. The Quattro permanent all-wheel-drive system with EDL (electronic differential lock) makes easy going of snowy roads and the occasional small patch of ice. Sure-footed confidence is the central theme of this system and it works quite well. My wife, Patty, and I appreciated the heated seats in the 20-degree weather at night in the mountains, and my hands welcomed the warming of the steering wheel. All in all, an outstanding all-weather wagon.

A week or so later we flew off to Detroit for the North American International Auto Show, where we had access to the Mercedes-Benz 4Matic wagon — but this time in E500 guise rather than E320. In 2003, Mercedes decided to have all-wheel drive available in all of its sedan and wagon models, and when the E-Class wagon arrived it had a new version with the V-8. This 5.0-liter engine puts out 302 bhp at 5600 rpm that connects to a 5-speed automatic in the 4Matic wagon (the E500 2-wheel-drive sedan has a 7-speed automatic). The Mercedes also features ESP (electronic stability program) that boasts throttle intervention for yaw control, plus ignition and throttle intervention to control wheelspin.

Like the Audi Allroad, the wagon benefits greatly from the addition of the V-8. While we own and enjoy an E320 wagon with the V-6, there is still nothing like a V-8 for abundant low-end torque and excellent midrange response. The E500 takes on an athletic character that makes it a serious performer no matter what the weather.

On a cold, snowy night driving from downtown Detroit's Cobo Hall out to Birmingham, I found the powerful V-8 and the various electronic systems welcome and comforting. Like the Audi, the Mercedes provides sure-footed driving even in the worst of conditions. And all of the comfort and convenience you could ask for to make each driving experience a pleasure.

When you throw in the convenience of a large, open luggage area with easy access, I find myself enamored of these two all-wheel-drive wagons — good-looking, powerful, comfortable and with handling traits that make them fun to drive.

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